Marysville senior Ian Johnson works on squats during a recent weight-lifting session in the school’s training facility. The Monarch football team is getting into shape for the upcoming 2019 season.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The Marysville High School football team is taking time off this week due to the Union County Fair.
It’s a practice that began several years ago in order for team members to show exhibits or just unwind a bit before preseason practice begins.
Monarch athletes in various sports have been lifting weights all summer in order to become stronger for their upcoming seasons during the 2019-20 school year.
Athletes have been lifting four days a week (Monday through Thursday) with sessions beginning at 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.
“Coach Grose (boys basketball-Ryan), Coach Andrews (Shawn-wrestling) and I all put value in kids being multi-sport athletes,” said Monarch head football boss Brent Johnson. “We want to see athletes in all of our sports become stronger.”
Weight lifting sessions have served an average of 120-plus athletes per day in the summer.
MHS female athletes such as in the sports of volleyball and basketball have also gone through scheduled training sessions.
“We’ve had a good flow of athletes through the weight room all summer,” said Johnson. “We’re in the process of fielding a physical team this season and the guys know it takes a lot of effort and a willingness to compete in order to succeed.”
There are four basic lifts that local athletes go through during the week. Those include bench press, squat, dead lift and power clean.
Johnson said he has seen MHS athletes improve their lift numbers as the summer has progressed.
Some have been coming through with pretty impressive efforts.
“Skylar Lawson is squatting about 570 (pounds),” said Johnson. “Colby Goodwin is benching 310, Matt Belt is dead-lifting 405 and Chase Kilgore is power cleaning 245.
“A lot of our older guys are already at or near their max weights.
“We’re seeing maximums of plus 15 to 35 pounds, depending on the lift,” he said. “We’re making very good progress.”
The Monarch gridiron squad will begin preseason practice on Thursday, Aug. 1.
The initial preseason scrimmage will be held on Saturday, Aug. 17, beginning at 10 a.m. at Hilliard Bradley.